Millennials are used to paying monthly subscription fees for a variety of services, from Netflix to BarkBox.
Financial coach David Wickert tapped into that model when building his Pewaukee-based company, Wealthcare LLC. The fee-only financial advisory firm is geared toward millennials and their money needs, from setting up retirement accounts to paying off student loans. He charges a monthly fee for the services.
“I am Netflix for personal finance,” Wickert said.
Wickert, 26, is from Brookfield and attended the University of Minnesota. He previously worked at Ziegler Wealth Management in Waukesha and Augustine Financial LLC in Brookfield. But he had a hard time relating to his clients, many of whom were his parents’ age.
“It’s just tough for a 20-something to relate to someone who’s twice your age,” he said. “That led me to want to figure out a way to work with my friends, my peers, people who are going through the same stages in life that I’m going through.”
The feeling was mutual, he said.
“The look in their eye was, ‘What the heck do you know? I have kids your age,’” Wickert said. “There’s just a certain amount of gravitas that you can’t fake when you’re half the age of your clients.”
Wickert founded Wealthcare in October. He plans to remain a sole practitioner, and hopes to grow from 13 to 100 clients in 2015.
Traditionally, financial advisors target wealthy clients and manage their money for a small percentage of the total. But that model wouldn’t work for millennials, who are just starting out and don’t have large amounts of money to manage, Wickert said. Many of them don’t meet the asset minimum for traditional wealth management services.
“I’m going to bill my clients on the only asset that they have, which is their monthly paycheck,” he said. “For one to two percent of your monthly take home pay, we’re going to do all the ugly parts of financial planning and personal finance.”
Wealthcare’s subscription fee varies by client based on their monthly income, but is usually between $25 and $55 per month.
“You can cash flow the cost of advice,” Wickert said. “That’s beer you don’t remember drinking on a Friday night. For the cost of that you can get professional advice—it’s a slam dunk.”
Young professionals have different concerns than those in later stages of their careers, Wickert said. Many of them are buried in student loans, and need to pay those down before they can make headway in other areas of financial life.
Wickert tailors his advice to those financial concerns and also adapts to millennials’ lifestyles, allowing online scheduling that syncs with his calendar and meeting clients wherever they are, including virtually via Skype.
Often, Wickert sits in on clients’ meetings with their life insurance providers or CPAs to get a full idea of their financial pictures, help them make informed decisions and answer any questions they may have. But he doesn’t sell any products himself, except for his advice.
“What I do is timeless. It’s human interaction and gaining trust from someone that can add perspective and knowledge to the lives of my clients,” he said.
He also helps clients sign up for apps and websites meant to assist users with their finances, such as mint.com and creditkarma.com.
Wickert says millennials seem to be comfortable taking advice from him.
While it caters to millennials, Wealthcare takes on clients of any age. At some level, everyone is looking for the same thing—achieving what makes them feel personally wealthy, Wickert said.
“To be able to hear wisdom from someone who is your peer I think is a real currency, or I think maybe people are more open to hearing it,” he said. “Being young in life, you are maybe more comfortable saying, ‘I don’t know and I need to go find some help.’”
